Haneen Khreisat

Jordanian chemist who pioneered affordable solar energy storage solutions

Haneen Khreisat (born 1992) is a Jordanian chemist whose groundbreaking work in renewable energy storage has revolutionized access to clean power in developing nations. As a researcher at the German Jordanian University, she developed a novel battery technology using locally sourced materials that reduced production costs by over 60% compared to traditional lithium-ion systems. This innovation enables rural communities to store solar energy affordably, providing 24/7 electricity access to over 300,000 people in Jordan's rural areas by 2023.

Her 2021 paper published in Nature Energy (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41560-021-00892-3) introduced a zinc-air battery design using manganese-based catalysts extracted from Jordan's abundant phosphate mines. This breakthrough received global attention, earning her the 2022 UNESCO Women in Science Award and a $500,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Collaborations with NGOs like Engineers Without Borders have deployed her technology in 15 African countries through the SolarHarvest initiative (https://www.solarharvest.org).

Khreisat's advocacy for women in STEM led to the establishment of Jordan's first all-female engineering academy in 2020. Her TEDxAmman talk (https://www.ted.com/speakers/haneen_khreisat) has been viewed over 2 million times, inspiring a new generation of female scientists across the Middle East. Current projects include adapting her battery technology for seawater desalination systems in partnership with MIT researchers.